1. ATLAS.ti-The Qualitative Data Analysis Software
Making Sense of Research Data in Policy Analysis
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

2. Agenda
01. Applications 05. Is team work possible?
02. Central concept: the Hermeneutic
Unit (HU) 06. How can data be
exported?
03. Project Elements:
primary documents
quotations
codes
memos
families
networks
04. What kinds of questions to ask?
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

3. Applications in Policy Research
• It can be used in any research phase of the policy cycle, such as needs
assessments, social impact assessments, and process/formative/outcome
evaluations.
• It assists researchers in the process of identifying and making sense of
people‘s points of view and perspectives on issues.
• It allows for rich analysis of complex studies involving different sources of
information.
• It allows for the study of single cases as well as for comparative studies
across cases.
• It provides evidence to support decision-making processes.
• The researcher is always in control: methodological freedom (from
hypothesis-testing to grounded theory).
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

4. Central Concept: Hermeneutic Unit (HU)
• This is your project
• Container that holds
the sources of information
and all of the analytical
work done around them.
Picture: All data sources (Text
Image. Video..)
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

5. Project elements: Primary Documents
• Sources of information to be analyzed (no
limit in terms of quantity).
• Triangulate different methods of data
collection, such as:
– Structured, semi-structured, and
unstructured interviews
– Focus groups
– Surveys with open-ended questions
– Field notes from observations
– Archival sources: institutional records,
websites, e-mails, blogs, etc.
– Literature reviews
– Drawing and pictures
• Accepts documents in different formats:
– Text: Word, RTF, PDF, TXT
– Survey in Excel
– Audio
– Video
– Image
– Google Earth
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

6. Project elements: Quotations
• Segments of data that the
researcher selects according to
research interests.
• Quotations can be as short as a
single character and as long as the
entire primary document.
• Quotations are always shown
within their larger context.
• The content of Quotations can be
exported as Rich Text and HTML
files.
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

7. Project elements: Codes
• Concepts that can either derive from
external frameworks of reference or
emerge from the text.
•Codes can be grouped according to shared
conceptual characteristics (eg., all codes
that respond to specific topic).
• Codes can be linked to quotations by the
researcher or automatically by the system
(auto-coding).
• Codes can be commented (operational
definitions).
• All codes can easily be accessed via the
Code Manager.
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

8. Project elements: Memos
• Spaces for reflection.
• This is where the analyst brings
together what has been discovered,
described, and analyzed.
• Memos can be linked to quotations,
codes, and other memos.
•A good memo (or a good system of
memos) can become the basis for the
research report.
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

9. Project elements: Families
• The Project Elements can be grouped
according to shared characteristics.
• Primary document families: group
documents according to specific
attributes, such as demographic (e.g.,
age, gender, ethnicity), sites (e.g.,
Belfast, London, Berlin), and waves of
data collection (e.g, first wave, second
wave). Thus, the researcher can explore
the data looking for similarities and
differences across groups.
• Code families: group codes according to
shared conceptual characteristics, such as
codes representing the point of view of
the participant, codes related to a specific
research objective, codes that represent a
given hypothesis. Thus, the researcher can
explore the data looking for similarities
and differences across conceptual groups.
• Memo families: group memos according
to shared characteristics, such as memos
exploring the findings related to a given
research objective or hypothesis, memos
reflecting upon the method of analysis, or
memos analyzing the literature.
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

10. Project elements: Network Views
• Graphical representations
showing linkages between
objects of the HU (like
conceptual maps).
• Networks are given by default
by the system (weak link
networks) *
•Networks can be semantic
(strong link networks), such as
those connecting codes through
a given meaning (e.g., is part of,
is a, is associated with)**
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

11. What kinds of questions to ask?
• What themes are found in the data?
• What themes are more/less relevant
from a quantitative perspective?
• What is the qualitative relevance of
themes? Does it vary accross cases,
participants, or waves of data collection?
• Whenever study participants talk about
Theme X, what else are they talking
about?
• What is the context within which
participants talk about Theme X?
•What do participants say about Theme X
AND/OR Theme Y? Any variation across
cases, participants, or waves of data
collection?
•How does the literature/theory inform
the study‘s findings?
• Is there enough evidence in the data to
support a given hypothesis?
• How do data from archival research
inform/complement primary data?
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

12. Is team work possible?
• Each team member can be in
charge of coding a specific set of
primary documents.
• Each team member can be in
charge of exploring a specific
conceptual domain.
• No limit in terms of the number
of people working in different
aspects of the analysis in a team
setting.
• Need for strong coordination
and transparency in
collaboration.
• Inter-rater reliability can be
calculated using CAT (Steward
Shulman)
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

13. How can data be exported?
• XML
• HTML
• SPSS
• Excel
• Rich Text
Format (RTF)
• PDF
• Graphic formats
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

14. Thank you!
ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH
Hardenbergstr. 7
D-10623 BERLIN
Tel +49 30 31 99 88 971
Fax +49 30 31 99 88 979
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.

15. Presented at the 2nd European
conference on Qualitative Research for
Policy Making, 26 -27 May 2011, Belfast
For more information
Please visit: http://www.merlien.org
Jörg Hecker | ATLAS.ti GmbH . May 2011.